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POETO EICO 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. ALBERT DOUGLAS 

OF OHIO ' 



IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 



J-AJSTTJ^IRY 16, 1909 



68695-8005 



WASHINGTON 
1 909 






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u, SPEECH 

OF 



HON. ALBERT DOUGLAS. 



The House being in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
the^Union, and having under consideration the bill (H. R. 2620."}) mak- 
ing appropriations for the payment of invalid and other pensions of the 
United States for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910, and for other 
purposes — 

Mr. DOUGLAS said: 

Mr. Chairman : On the Sth of last May, during the discus- 
sion of the bill reported by the Committee on Military Affairs 
to make the Torto Rican Provisional Regiment of Infantry per- 
manent, the discussion took quite a wide range, involving the 
relation between Porto Rico and the United States. At that 
time I expressed my intention, at the first opporunity, of say- 
ing something further upon this subject, and this I now desire 
to do. 

During that discussion I indicated my opinion, formed during 
a visit to the island, that the present feeling of the Porto Ricans 
for the American flag was not a friendly one, and that I thought 
this unfriendliness to be unwarranted. The gentleman from 
Mississippi [Mr. Williams] declared, in reply to what I had 
said, thai the unfriendly feeling of Porto Rico toward the 
United States was justified by our treatment of that island; 
and furthermore declared that if we keep the Porto Ricans in 
the status in which they now are — 

' Within ten years from now there will not only be an unfriendly feel- 
ing toward America in Porto Rico, but there will be a hatred equal 
to'that which the Irish feel for England. 

If this were so, it would be a strange commentary upon our 
dealing with the people of that island. But I do not believe 
that any unbiased person, considering the present and the past 
conditions of life— social, political, and material — in the island 
of Porto Rico, will concur in so pessimistic a view of present 
conditions there. 

Politically, socially, and materially the ten years of our occu- 
pation of the island of Porto Rico lias witnessed a development 
and an improvement which is a just and hearty occasion for 
pride to the American people. In the debate last May, to which 
I have referred, the Commissioner from Porto Rico put into the 
Record a speech made by the leader of his party, Munoz Rivera, 
in the Porto Rican house of delegates. In the course of that 
speech the leader of the Unionist party in Porto Rico declared 
that in 1S97 Spain had recognized the right of the Porto Ricans 
to self-government, and had given them, to use his own lan- 
guage : 

A system of government more complete and more dignified than that 
of Canada and "Australia. 

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And, continuing, the orator declared : 

Our hard feelings were turned into sincere love, because servitude had 
disappeared, because liberty was dawning. 

It will be something of a surprise to many Americans to 
learn that even the appearance of autonomy had been granted 
by Spain to Porto Rico the year before the American occupa- 
tion. Without dwelling at too great length upon a comparison 
of the form of government granted by Spain to Porto Rico in 
1S97 and the form of government now existing in Porto Rico as 
established by ourselves, I will undertake to show that the 
present American system of government in Porto Rico is far 
more " complete," far more " dignified," far more free, and far 
more just to the Porto Ricans than that then granted by Spain. 

Under this decree of November 25, 1S97, the governor-general 
represented not the people of Porto Rico, but the King of Spain. 
He had power to appoint all of the officers of the insular 
government. He had the power to pardon or reprieve crimi- 
nals. He had the right to promulgate or to suspend the laws. 
In the name of the King he could call or prorogue a session 
of the insular legislature. He had power to suspend, if in his 
opinion public order required it, certain essential guarantees 
relating to personal liberty, and in effect to declare martial 
law. And to enforce all this authority, he was made com- 
mander in chief of all the land and naval forces of the island. 
It is idle to pretend that such powers as these are con- 
sistent with any reasonable degree of local autonomy or of 
political liberty. 

The upper house of the so-called "parliament" was composed 
of 15 members, who must each be the owner of real estate 
yielding an annual revenue of 4,000 pesos, or Spanish dollars; 
and of those 15 rich landowners, 7 were to be appointed by 
the governor-general. The lower house was composed of 1 
representath r e for each 2,500 inhabitants. Moreover, this in- 
sular parliament was not permitted to make any appropriations 
of money for purely insular purposes until what was called 
the " state budget " was provided for — such as the army and 
navy, the church (which in 1S97 enjoyed a revenue of $235,000 
from the insular treasury), post-offices, coast defenses, quar- 
antine light-houses, etc. The duty on goods and products 
passing from Porto Rico to Spain and from Spain to Porto 
Rico was to be fixed by agreement between the island and the 
mother country. 

To say that such a " system of government was more com- 
plete and dignified than that of Canada or Australia" requires 
no comment. 

It should finally be noted that this "law of autonomy for 
Porto Rico," as it was called, was enacted, not by the Spanish 
Parliament, but by a royal decree of the King of Spain, and its 
continuance was wholly within his pleasure. 

It is hardly necessary to compare such a government — here 
.briefly, but I believe fairly, outlined — with the governemnt es- 
tablished in Porto Rico by the so-called " Foraker Act" and sub- 
sequent laws. Our governor of Porto Rico has no such powers 
as those above enumerated. The one regiment of Porto Rican 
soldiers are not even under his control. This regiment is sup- 
porter! whollv from the National Treasury; and so with the 
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post-office, and 95 per cent of the post-office employees are na- 
tive Porto Iiicans. The coast defenses, quarantine stations, 
naval station, and light-house service are all paid for out of the 
United States Treasury ; and we are expending more in harbor 
improvements in one appropriation than all that the King of 
Spain expended for this purpose from 1508 to 1898. Further- 
more, it was the common practice of Spain to take funds from 
the Porto Rican treasury to suppress insurrection in Cuba or 
for other uses, and large sums on this account were due from 
Spain to Porto Rico at the time of the American occupation. 
In contrast to this, we have turned $3,000,000 into the insular 
treasury to be used wholly for insular improvements, and every 
dollar of their customs collections go into the insular treasury. 
We have turned over to the insular government all of the public 
lands on the island and all public buildings, and we are now 
erecting new buildings at the national expense. 

I need not dwell at length upon the evidence and the proof 
of the material improvement and prosperity that Has come to 
this densely populated island since and as incident to the 
American occupation. Everyone, even the most ardent advo- 
cate of independence, admits it. No one can go there; no one 
can seek, from reports and books, information on the subject 
without realizing that in substantially every direction the con- 
ditions of life and the material prosperity of the people have 
improved to a degree that fills our hearts with satisfaction and 
with pride. 

The very rugged topography of this beautiful little island 
does and will compel it to depend largely for inland travel and 
transportation upon its ordinary highways. Most of these 
have been improved, and some wonderfully fine roads wholly 
constructed under American management. The splendid new 
road across the island from Arecibo to Ponce is certainly one 
of the most beautiful drives in the world, and several impor- 
tant branches to the fine old military road from San Juan to 
Ponce have been built. Schoolhouses filled to overflowing with 
eager happy children are seen everywhere. Diseases which 
almost decimated the population have been brought under 
scientific control. Peace and good order prevail ; and .justice 
is administered, substantially for the first time in the history 
of the island, without bribery, without fear, and without favor. 

Mr. BENNET of New York. Will the gentleman allow me 
to ask him a question? 

Mr. DOUGLAS. Certainly. 

Mr. BENNET of New York. Has the system of having some 
American judges in the Island of Porto Rico— or all of them 
Americans, as far as I know; I admit a good deal of ignorance 
on the subject — proved successful or unsuccessful? 

Mr. DOUGLAS. I think it has proved successful. There are 
only a few American judges left on the island. Nearly all the 
judges, both of the municipal and district courts, are Porto 
Ricans, and some of them men of great ability and fine char- 
acter. 

Mr. BENNET of New York. I thank the gentleman for the 
information. 

Mr. DOUGLAS. The sugar and tobacco industries have 
grown by lo-u's and bounds. In each the independent operators 
68695—8005 



are successfully competing with the so-called " trusts." Iu spite 
of the devastation of the forests, which shelter the coffee planta- 
tions, by the awful cyclone of August 8, 1899, the coffee industry 
is reviving. The Porto Rican coffee is one of the most delicious 
in the world, and this industry should certainly be favored and 
assisted by our laws. Wages have more than doubled under the 
new regime, so that in this hot and fruitful land, where nature- 
is so liberal of the gifts of the soil, where frost is unknown and 
the necessities of shelter and clothing are reduced to a mini- 
mum, a month's work will supply for a year to the peon such 
necessities as the teeming soil will not produce. 

If then it be true, as it is true, that the ten years of American 
occupation have brought such marked improvement, political, 
social, and material, to the island and to the people of Porto 
Rico, why is it nevertheless true that when, upon the plaza at 
San Juan, the band of the Porto Rican regiment plays our 
Star-Spangled Banner and every American present rises and 
stands uncovered, the natives all sit in sullen silence? 

The fault is both theirs and ours. They certainly have shown 
in many respects a lack of appreciation of what has already 
been accomplished in their behalf; and this discontent has un- 
doubtedly been fostered and augmented by their political 
leaders for their own purposes. 

On the other hand, I believe that we, too, have failed to ap- 
preciate the feelings of a sensitive people. We have disap- 
pointed their reasonable expectations and wounded their pride 
by keeping them too long in a state of political tutelage. 

The Porto Ricans are a unique and interesting people. I 
doubt if anywhere else the three races, Caucasian, American- 
Indian and negro, have become so mixed. Under Spanish law 
they were divided into white, gray, and brown, but these nom- 
inal orders certainly fade indistinguishably into one another. 
About half of the million or more people on the island are 
called white; and among many of these their original Indian 
blood is plainly noticeable, as well as, in many of them, their 
negro blood. 

About half of the population is illiterate, but it is hard to 
overestimate their eagerness to learn. Their quickness of ap- 
prehension, especially as evidenced among the children in the 
schools, is spoken of by everyone who has come into contact 
with them as extraordinary. As a race they are docile, law- 
abiding, peaceable, hospitable, and kindly. At the same time, 
like most Latin-American people, they are excitable and volatile. 
The lightest argument about any trivial matter is apt to be car- 
ried on with a rapidity of utterance, violent gesticulation, and 
an intensity of feeling quite out of keeping with the real im- 
portance of the matter under discussion. They are far more 
governed by sentiment than by reason, and this makes them 
especially amenable to the influence of their orators. One of 
the most intelligent and partial of their American critics, a 
man who dwelt among them for five years, wrote : 

There is probably nothing in the prospect of Porto Rico so dark, so- 
full of peril as the prominence of the eloquent politician. He is very 
apt to prove a most malignant curse among a people so easiiy affected 
by florid vociferation and cantankerous rhetoric. 

Some of these leaders mislead them with selfish appeals for 
and vain hopes of independence. With independence they, or 
68695—8005 



some of them, would soon become the virtual rulers of the 
island. 

But surely the American Republic can not afford to indulge 
in any pique over the failure of these people to appreciate what 
has been done for them, or to deny them justice as a whole on 
account of the vagaries of some of their popular leaders. 

From the time of our occupation of the island we have held 
out to them the hope of citizenship. The Foraker Act was de- 
clared to be a provisional and probationary measure. Had the 
great Senator who framed it and whose name it bears been per- 
mitted to have entirely his own way "the path of Porto Rican 
evolution would be smoother than it is." The time has come — 
indeed, it long since came — when the just demand of the Porto 
Ricans for citizenship in the great Republic of which they are 
now and must in all probability forever remain a part should 
be heeded by the American Congress. The Republican party is 
pledged to it, the honor of the Nation is pledged to it, and' ex- 
pediency as well as justice pleads for it. 

At the same time I do not believe that the wisest or the best 
course is to confer citizenship in block upon the whole male 
population of Porto Rico. I believe that it will be wiser and 
more expedient to permit every elector of Porto Rico, upon his 
own motion and by his own act, to become a citizen of the 
United States. 

Therefore it is that after a careful consideration, after con- 
sulting,' both in person and by letter, with many whose opinions 
upon the subject I considered valuable, I introduced in this 
Congress a bill, to which I respectfully invite not only the 
attention of the Committee of the Whole House, but also of the 
Committee of the House on Insular Affairs, as a substitute for 
the bill from that committee now pending on the calendar; and 
this bill, which is brief, I now ask to have read at the Clerk's 
desk and to be inserted here as a part of my remarks. 

The CHAIRMAN. The Clerk will read. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

A bill (H. R. 509) permitting citizens of Porto Rico, under certain con 
ditions, to become citizens of tbe United States. 

Be it enacted, etc., Tbat any male person over tbe age of 21 years, 
actually resident in tbe island of Porto Rico, and an elector of Porto 
ttico under tbe laws thereof, may, upon bis own motion, become a 
naturalized citizen of tbe United States by complying witb tbe follow- 
ing forms and conditions : 

First. He shall appear in person before the municipal iudse of that 
municipality and judicial district within the island of Porto Rico 
wherein he may reside and file a declaration of his desire to become a 
citizen of tbe United States. 

Second. Having filed such declaration, he shall, within not less than 
thirty and not more than sixty days thereafter, appear again in per- 
son Lefore such municipal judge and take and subscribe an oath to sup- 
port, maintain, and defend the Constitution and laws of the United 
btates ; whereupon a certificate of citizenship shall be issued to him bv 
said municipal judge, and he shall thereupon become a citizen of the 
United States, and his name and residence shall be entered bv said 
municipal judge upon a register to be kept by him for that purpose. 

srcc. 1. that the municipal .iud^ of each mnnicipaMrv s'iall provide 
and keep blanks for such declaration of a desire to become a citizen 
of said oath ot allegiance, and of said certificate of citizenship wnieii 
blank declaration shall contain spnces for the name, aae, parentaye 
and residence of the applicant desiring to hecome a citizen, with Pis' 
desire therein expressed, which blanks shall be in both the Knglish and 
Spanish languages, and shall be filled up by said judge and read and 
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carefully explained to the applicant before he signs the same ; and upon 
the same being signed, it shall he filed by the said municipal judge. 

Sec. 3. That for filing each declaration of a desire to become a 
citizen such municipal judge shall be paid by- the applicant a fee of 
25 cents ; and for preparing and filing such oath of allegiance and 
issuing the said certificate the said judge shall be paid by the applicant 
a further fee of 25 cents. 

Sec. 4. That after the 1st day of January, 1910, no person residing 
in I'orto Rico and not a citizen of the United States may hold any office 
of honor or profit in any of the departments of public service in Porto 
Rico, whether executive, legislative, judicial, police, or whatsoever. 

Mr. DOUGLAS. I submit that this bill has several impor- 
tant advantages over a bill granting citizenship indiscriminately 
to the Porto Rican electors. 

In the first place, the bill puts it up to every elector of Porto 
Rico to become a citizen of the United States upon swearing 
allegiance to the country, to its laws, and to its Constitution, and 
this must of itself have some effect in the future upon those 
who thus voluntarily assume the obligations of citizenship. 
Then it will be noted that the bill itself, after a fixed date, 
which should now be extended, provides that no one not a citi- 
zen of the United States shall hold office in Porto Rico. In this 
way it provides, as I believe, for substantially quieting the mal- 
contents who preach disloyalty, independence, or revolution. 
They must either go out of office or take an oath of allegiance 
to the Constitution and laws of the United States. 

While I sincerely hope that this bill, or some such measure, 
will be speedily adopted by the Congress, I am not of the opin- 
ion that we should stop here. 

I. sincerely believe that the Porto Rican people are capable 
of a much greater measure of self-government than is conferred 
upon them by the present organic law governing that island. 
Their present parliament consists of two houses — an executive 
council and a house of delegates. The executive council con- 
sists of 11 members, all appointed by the President, 6 of whom, 
citizens of the United States, are all heads of departments, and 
the other 5 are citizens of Porto Rico, without portfolios. The 
house of delegates is elected by the people in the various dis- 
tricts into which the island is divided. I believe the time has 
come to increase the executive council to 13 and to permit 
a majority of it to be elected by the people of Porto Rico. This 
would leave the veto to the governor, the heads of departments 
for the present in the hands of Americans, but would give the 
control of both houses to the Porto Rican people. 

So far I am convinced we can now go with entire safety. 
This much would at least show to the people of Porto Rico 
our disposition to advance them toward the goal, not of inde- 
pendence, but of self-government, toward which, however dis- 
tant, their aspirations ardently lead them, and the ultimate 
grant of which not one of us can have the temerity to deny. 
[App^'^e.l 

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